Green
by real-placebo-effect
Summary: Ten years. Ten long years since Alice was last in Underland. Finding other’s inhibitions and prejudices obstructive to her own goals, she decides to do the impossible; return to Underland. Of course, ten years is a long time...
1. Chapter 1

**Green**

_By_ real-placebo-effect

* * *

Part One: In Wonderland Again

* * *

**Rating:** _T (can and might be changed)_

**Summary:** _Ten years. Ten long years since Alice was last in Underland. Finding other's inhibitions and prejudices obstructive to her own goals, she decides to do the impossible; return to Underland. Of course, ten years is a _long_ time, and Underland isn't quite the way Alice left it...[Alice/Tarrant, and others.]_

**Author's Notes:** _MY GOD, ALICE IN WONDERLAND WAS AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. GO AND WATCH IT. NOW. (Perception is on hiatus atm...sorry!)_

**[ I ]**

_("You used to be much more..._muchier._ You've lost your muchness.")_

Alice was lonely and, being the being that she was, she was not afraid to admit so. As _entertaining_ as China and Lord Ascot were, she still caught the looks the older man gave her, when she mentioned how much she should like to fly, or how she wanted to find out why a raven was like a writing desk and it _hurt_ because she knew this would never have happened in Underland.

Underland, Alice's Wonderland.

It amazed her that she still woke up from the most devastating dreams. Sometimes, it was scary – what would happen had she lost against the Jabberwocky? What would've happen had Iracebeth killed her? – but sometimes, they were what could've been – her downing another one of Mirana's foul-ingrediented but surprisingly normal tasting potions, her having tea with Hatter.

Hatter. Oh, how she missed him! No, she did not believe anyone understood her muchness more than Hatter did.

Sighing, Alice looked out of the murky, dingy windows of the _Wonder_, her eyes trailing each of the water droplets as they hit the glass, beating softly. _Alice, Alice, Alice, Alice_ they seemed to whisper, stretching out each syllable, each sibilant hiss, from a soft crooning to a scornful spit.

_Alice, Alice, Alice, Alice, Alice, Alice, Alice, ALICE, AL-_

"-ice, are you alright?" Blinking her forget-me-not blue eyes, Alice turned slowly to face the man behind her. Ah yes, his name was Lucas, Lucas...Smith? Yes..._no_...it was Smith_son_, it was. Yes, an apprentice of Lord Ascot's, after she'd been promoted to his partner in business rather than an apprentice. He'd been allowed, albeit reluctantly, to accompany them on their journeys.

"Yes, quite." She replied, airily. _Alice, Alice, Alice, Alice, Alice_ the droplets are crying. _Go away, Lucas and let me listen to the rain_, she wants to say, but she's been in Overland long enough to know that that would be rude, a bit too much-

_You used to be much more..."muchier." You've lost your muchness._

-and Alice freezes. Has she really become less muchier? Had she really become so Overland-ly? Speaking of which, she had not seen Absolem for _days and days and days and weeks and weeks and weeks and months and months and months and years and years and years and never again._

The cold, hard stone in her stomach hardened and engorged until Alice could feel the bile in her throat.

"I think you should leave now, Lucas." She proclaims, but his blue eyes-

_-Should be green, GREEN, not blue, this horrible, disgusting blue-_

-are narrowed in suspicion of her suddenly pale face.

"I want to stay."

"_You could stay, you know..._"

And despite the heaviness of her mind and heart and how the room kept spinning and the voices kept blurring, Alice still smiled and whispered back. "I want you to _go_. Leave me. Now."

"_Why is it you're always too small or too tall?"_

"Only for you, Hatter. Only you would notice and only you would be worried."

"_And on that day I shall Futterwacken...vigorously."_

"Who's Hatter? Notice what? _What is going on?_" Smithson was still here, it seemed, but Alice couldn't think, not with the voice – _his_ voice – in her head, and the glow of green eyes and the whispering of the rain droplets, _Alice, Alice, Alice, Alice_-

"_Who are you?"_

"I'm Alice Kingsley...I am...I _am_!"

"_The Alice?"_

"There's been some debate about that."

"Alice, snap out of it!" The boy's voice is hysterical now...ten years..._ten years_ without her Underlandians...her _family_...

(_ALICE, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE_ – the droplets were screaming her name, now.)

Alice pressed a hand to her cheeks, eyes wide in disbelief at the warm tears that were pouring down her face, and she _couldn't breathe_-

-_her heart was like lead, dragging her down, down, down, down_-

-and she couldn't _think_ and then Alice made her decision because, _by God_, she couldn't do this anymore, no more, no more, no more-

"_NO MORE!_" Alice screamed, clutching her heart gasping for breath because she was _hurting_. Her crazed electric blue eyes snapped suddenly to Lucas and he shuddered.

"_Get out. Now_."

And he ran.

And Alice made her choice.

(_"Fairfarren, Alice."_)

**[ I ]**

Her fingers fumbled as she ripped the clothes out of her trunk haphazardly, not really paying attention to where the tawdry lace flew, because she had only one object in her mind and she had to find it _now, now, now, now, now_.

And her lips curved victoriously, when she found it. The small phial, seemingly empty. But it was there. One drop. One drop of Jabberwocky blood. _For her_. _For home_.

Smiling, without regret, Alice tipped the small phial in between her lips, savouring the bitter taste the one droplet bestowed on her.

It was the most she'd felt in _years_.

**[ I ]**

"_Alice...Alice...dear...you have to wake up now...Alice..._" The crooning. Who was crooning?

_Mirana._

She was _home_.

Alice was back in her Wonderland.

**[ I ]**

"Of course, Lady Alice." He...she...it? said, bowing at her. No matter how long Alice would be in her Wonderland, she would never cope with _that_. Mirana noticed her discomfort, but her face was impassive although her eyes were twinkling, far more than usual.

Alice had recovered nicely; from the ordeal her body went through trying to transport her to Underworld with only a small amount of Jabberwocky blood as a catalyst. And she had barely seen the castle yet, just talked a lot with Mirana about nonsensical things.

"Perhaps, it's time we go and see the Hatter." Mirana said, solemnly and, for the first time in a long while, Alice felt a large knot of apprehension.

**[ I ]**

_The Outlandian sun beat down on the back of his neck relentlessly as he dug the hole, his makeshift shovel clanging repeatedly, rhythmically, _thud, thud, thud, thud, thud_. Finally, he was finished and he wiped the sweat from his brow, breathing deeply._

_It would've been what she wanted, after all. _

_But he wasn't finished...no...no...he still had work to do. And so, he ran, for miles and miles, as hadn't done while she was with him and broke into a house, stealing the kitchen knife there._

_And for days and nights, he sawed away._

_Finally, on the fifth night, the shackle came away and he laughed. _

He was free.

_And Ilosovic Stayne laughed and laughed and laughed until they turned into hopeless, hollow sobs. And in the end, he didn't know what he was crying for; redemption, regret or loneliness._

**[ I ]**

Alice stood, wavering at the door. Her hand rose and fell back to her side, spastically. She was at the Hatter's house. The Hatter's _house_. He had something as average as a house.

(_And she looked into his eyes, just before disappearing and nearly broke at the despair she saw._)

Gathering all the muchness she could find, Alice knocked on the Hatter's door. She waited. Then knocked again. And waited again. The third time she knocked, Alice noticed that the door wasn't properly closed. Gulping, she pushed the door open and it creaked, eerily.

"Hatter?" Alice whispered, her heart breaking at the sight of him.

He was sitting in the middle of the room, on an arm chair, staring intently into a fire. He hadn't stirred, though she'd called him. But then she took in the sight of the room.

_Alice, come back. Alice, where are you? Alice, please come home. Alice. Alice, why did you go? Alice, you could stay. Alice, we need you. Alice, _I_ need you._

She took in the signs of the pins in the walls, the lovingly carved out messages and exhaled. "Hatter, look at me, please."

And yet, he still didn't stir.

"Hatter, what's happened to you? Are you mad at me?" Alice asked, timidly. _That_ made him react. His eyes snapped to hers.

"You're not real. Go away."

And that hurt, more than she ever imagined it would.

"Oh, Hatter, what have I done?"

**[ I ]**

"_Ilosovic Stayne. Why are you here? You are exiled, are you not?" The White Queen asked lightly. Stayne ran a dry tongue over drier lips, contemplating his answer. Finally, he managed to answer, in a husky, out-of-use voice,_

"_Iracebeth is dead. She's been dead for years." And he watched, not really knowing whether he should feel happy or sympathetic, when Mirana's face transformed completely, a single tear running down her cheek._

"_How?"_

_Here, Stayne smiled bitterly. "Iracebeth...had problems, with her health. She had high blood pressure...and she continuously lost her temper, over all these years. And being forced to live with someone who'd tried to kill her wasn't doing her any good, either, your Majesty. She died of a heart attack, in the end. Befitting the Queen of Hearts, is it not?"_

_The Queen – the _only_ Queen – was silent, in shock. Finally, she released a shuddering breath and her dark eyes snapped back into focus. "And yourself, Ilosovic? What are _you_ here for?"_

"_I wish to..." And Stayne stopped here, struggling with the words he wished to speak. "I wish to..."_

Serve, breathe, speak, feel-

"_Yes?" The Queen urged, leaning forward in her anticipation. Stayne swallowed and tried again._

"_I have travelled all across the lands, your Majesty...and I realised that I wish to..." Again, the words stopped. Mirana blinked and Stayne decided on a word._

"_I wish to live._"

**[ I ]**

"Alice?" Tarrant whispered, green eyes wide, comically along with his neon orange brows raised high, as his gaze fell on the sobbing woman in front of him. "Alice, _is that you?_"

Alice gasped, trying to reel her emotions in and wiped hastily at her eyes. She looked up at him and Tarrant knew, he just _knew_, it was _the_ Alice, _his_ Alice.

And he got out of his chair, and fell to the floor, lime green eyes drinking in her face. Her curly blonde hair and the smile that threatened to break out on her beautiful face.

"_Alice._"

"Why is it that a raven is like a writing desk?" She said suddenly and Tarrant can feel his own grin spreading out across his face.

"I have absolutely no clue, dear Alice."

And his face broke out in the largest of grins, ones that would make Chessur shrivel with envy.

**[ I ]**

"_To live..." The Queen echoed, leaning backwards in her throne, once again, clearly perplexed. _

_Stayne did not bother to reassure her – he didn't think she needed that._

"_And have you not been living before this, Knave?" She asks, her eyes snapping back to focus._

"_I have existed. And why should I be content with just existing when others, no matter how dark and dull, can _live_?" Stayne replied, but it was more to himself than others._

_As he had run, run to Marmoreal, he had seen it, the flashes, glimpses of other's lives. A man eating breakfast with his family...an old woman tending to her flowers...a child snuggling with it's parent...and he wondered why _he_ hadn't anything like that._

"_Very well." The White Queen claimed and he felt a bead of sweat running down his neck._

_"Ilosovic Stayne, you are hereby released from exile and into the custody of the White Queen, Mirana of Marmoreal. You are hereby decreed to..."_

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**End Part One**


	2. Chapter 2

**Green**

_by_ real-placebo-effect

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Part Two: Of Mixed Feelings On Things That Shouldn't Matter

* * *

**Rating:** _T (can and might be changed)_

**Summary:** _Ten years. Ten long years since Alice was last in Underland. Finding other's inhibitions and prejudices obstructive to her own goals, she decides to do the impossible; return to Underland. Of course, ten years is a _long_ time, and Underland isn't quite the way Alice left it... [Alice/Tarrant and others.]_

**Author's Notes:** _The optional addition to the title of this chapter is _Of Mixed Feelings On Things That Shouldn't Matter (like the Hatter). _I'm just totally stuck on this plot! It's honestly not even funny...OBSESSION! And for those of you who noticed something off...that was intended. XD_

**Thank you to the following who reviewed/alerted/favourite-d Green:**

_MarsOutcast_  
_Lunarhowl_  
_death wish girl_  
_ChancellorZellamirae_  
_Unbekanntes Pferd_  
_Lunar Dream_  
_Midnight Killer02_  
_kaileechaplee_  
_Lilena_  
_SiphonThought_  
_xWho-Wouldn't-Waver-With-Jackx_  
_Rodnii_  
_Raven Writing Desk_  
_megumisakura_  
_Selene Ruby Rose Snape_  
_Roses of the Night_  
_Holly Xavier-Diggory_  
_Rugsday_  
_DandyxRandy_  
_TerraBee_

**[ I ]**

Clear, forget-me-not blue eyes blasted open as Alice returned to reality. She sat up, rather abruptly, and hung her head low, tears threatening to spill over, still blinded (_awed, shocked, revelling_) in the Hatter's grin. Alice smothered her hands in the light cream sheets before her and bit the inside of her cheek to control herself.

After a few moments, Alice was forced to look up, when the sound of soft and polite coughing reached her. "Hello, my Lady."

"Alice," Mirana replied, smiling genially. "Are you feeling better?"

"I-um, yes, I suppose." Alice stammered, brow furrowing slightly. "But what happened? I don't recall hurting myself at all..."

"We were in the Gardens, as you might remember. I had just suggested going to visit Tarrant when you passed out from exhaustion." The other woman replied. She sighed. "I _knew_ the Gardens were a bad idea!"

"S-so we didn't go to see Hatter?" Alice asked, timidly.

"No, we never got the chance to."

And Alice didn't know how to react (Was she happy? Was she sad? Was she relieved?) so she kept silent.

**[ I ]**

"_...but that's ridiculous! Completely, utterly ridiculous! You put him into a task like that, and there'll be bloodshed!"_

"_Whatever are you talking about, sweetheart? The Knave is suited for a task such as this, albeit having to work his way to the top again. I am rather sad to say that I do not completely trust him just yet." The Queen – Stayne thought with a jolt – answered, lightly._

"_Dearest, you simply _can't afford_ to give Stayne such a low job! It proves that he's not trusted – he's easy pickings! There are many who would like to repay him for misdeeds on their person made by him before Frabjous Day. You must understand this!"_

_Stayne was rather inclined to agree with the second female, if only to gain a higher, more powerful position in this new society. He scoffed at the idea of him – _him, _with his largeness and strength - not being able to fend off a few...rabbits!_

"That_, love, is what I would claim is ridiculous. Stayne is rather...large. If he cannot fend for himself, I should be very surprised indeed!"_

"_I do wish you'd open up your mind a little and stop underestimating the enemy! If you're going to accept the Knave back, you're going to have to accept him _fully_ and not do things half-heartedly. The people look to _you_ for support and judgement and by giving someone who is obviously _skilled_ such a low role...you've pretty much shown your disregard of him to all of Underland!"_

"_I see." The Queen said, sighing. "What do you suggest then, love?"_

_He could practically hear the grin in the other woman's answer._

**[ I ]**

Alice stretched as she stepped outside; she'd been in the room Mirana had set out for her for nearly two days and even now, the day was near its end – it was sunset already. Promising her that she would go and see her friends the next day, Alice turned to walk to the kitchens, eager for something to eat.

"Oh, Lady Alice?" A young woman called out to her and Alice turned, a smile gracing her face. "Have you seen Tarrant anywhere? He promised me a hat...a lovely one, quite a while back, but I can't find him."

"I'm afraid I haven't seen Hatter recently...however, perhaps Mallymkun has?" Alice replied, swallowing the apprehension and guilt, watching as a delighted smile curved the woman's cheeks.

"Indeed." She starts to skip off but paused, turning to Alice. "Oh, and if you see the Colonel, do _not_ tell him where I am. I do enjoy seeing him running around the castle."

"The Colonel?"

"Oh, he's about this-what high-" The woman put her fingertips a few inches above her own head. "And will most likely be _prowling_ and enquiring about me."

Alice smiled and nodded, as though she _knew_ this girl. "Of course, then."

**[ I ]**

Stayne smirked as he listened, oh-so-carefully, to the pitter-patter of feet on the cool floors of the castle. Making sure to be silent himself, Stayne stalked down the corridors -careful to stick to the cover of the night- with their overly delicate and decorative arches (the Queen, he found, was rather flamboyant, in that aspect), following the soft rustles and light tapping diligently.

His smirk widened as he saw a silhouette, creeping around slowly. "Your Highness, what _are_ you doing out so late?"

She shrieked in surprise and he really couldn't help but to chuckle. She turned to face him, a flush on her cheeks, pouting. "Oh, but that's not _fair_!"

"Good thing I'm not known for fairness, then." He pointed out and she grinned at him.

"I would ask you, just what _you're_ doing out so late, but I know the answer already." And, indeed, she should. She was a rather mischievous character and he had to keep tabs on her for her own safety, of course.

Needless to say, Stayne was _not happy_.

Huffing slightly, she sat down on the window's seat that she was previously standing on for a route of escape. Still smirking, Stayne sat down next to her, pulling the gloves he wore a bit tighter, wriggling his fingers. "This would be _so_ much easier for both of us if you'd just abide the rules, your Majesty."

"Oh, Chief, but the rules are so much fun to _break_!" She said, smiling cheekily. Stayne could only sigh and ran a hand over his face, tiredly. "Besides, someone needs to keep you fit in your golden years."

"You did _not_ just say that." Stayne growled, then added as an afterthought, "Your Highness."

She merely beamed back. And so, they sat like this for countless minutes, Stayne thinking about reprimanding her and she thinking about Unknowable things.

"You are not so old." She said, after a while, very quietly. Stayne stared at her, not knowing What To Say. "One day, _one day_, I'll make sure the people of Underland look at you with trust and care again. I swear it."

"They do not matter to me. They can think what they like." Stayne replied, indifferently. Again, she was silent, picking at the stray threads on her nightdress.

"I suppose not." She conceded. She fell into silence for a while before biting her lip brutally, a childish habit that, he found, often preceded a Deep Questioning.

"I think I am different than the rest. More sane, at the very least. Not completely sane, mind you, but sane enough to want to have a chat with someone without getting a teapot thrown at my head. Is there...is there something wrong with me?"

"I...don't think so." Stayne allowed. "And perhaps, it is not so bad, if you're a _bit_ sane."

"B-but it's horrible! I have no one who understands, and yes, I _know_ I sound like a petulant child, but can you blame me? Even Mother is insane, and she's supposed to be the _normal_ one!"

Stayne had nothing to say and -consequently- wisely kept silent. Well into her sulking, he spoke. "I never quite understood how you came to _be_. How she managed to keep _you_ hidden all these years. More importantly, when did she even take a husband?"

"Well, I thought she _told_ you all this already. Mother _made_ me." She replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Which to her, it probably was.

"Yes, yes, that's what everyone keeps telling me. But _how_? Did she adopt you or take a lover...?"

"Commander, Mother _made_ me." She said, a tone of finality and boredom present. "And I know how to keep hidden and silent and be obedient, if needs be."

"Then why are you never so when you're with _me_?!" Stayne grumbled and she smiled mischievously again.

"Oh dear, was that a _pout_?" At her exclamation, he quickly stifled his exasperation and attempted to look nonchalant, but alas, t'was too late; she had already seen his moment of weakness. "It was, it _was_! _You _were pouting! Pouting! And you call _me_ the child."

He scowled at her mirth and was still scowling slightly when she stopped. "But, as you were saying before Sergeant, Mother never took a lover or a husband. I have no other family but her and Aunt Racie."

He stiffened visibly at the name, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. "Can you tell me...what she was like? Aunt Racie, that is. Mother never talks about her."

"She was perfectly horrid. She was a slave driver, never satisfied with anything. She was like a child, with too much power and everyone had to attend to her every whim and fancy." Stayne replied, shortly. The beginnings of a wince were starting to form on her face before she forcibly smoothed them out.

"I don't mean what she was like, _with others_. I could easily find that out." She scoffed. "I mean, what was she like with _you_?"

"The same as all the others." He answered, abruptly.

"But, she must've done or been _something_ to win your loyalty." She whispered, her brow furrowed in confusion and determination. "What was she like?"

"She was..." There were no words to articulate what his relationship was like with Iracebeth. "Proud and rather commanding. She had a horrible temper and was very possessive."

She looked dismayed at his answer and Stayne licked his lips, continuing ever so softly, hoping that she might not hear him. "But I had known her for years and years and besides the negative, she could be gentle, funny, accommodating and caring, in her own right."

"Really?"

"Really," He confirmed. "She was really cheeky and snarky at times, which is where I'm supposing you get _your_ traits from. Iracebeth was always the kind of person who would give someone a _chance_. You might be reluctant to believe that, but it _is_ true. She never ordered me to kill Alice in the first place; just bring her to the castle. And all the people proclaim nowadays are her faults, never her accomplishments. She helped quite a few during her rule as well, and she never, _never_ harmed children. The Hightopp massacre was all the Jabberwocky."

Stayne swallowed, realising he was ranting – a trait he had _despised_ in Iracebeth. He smiled gently, near-whispering. "And she made the _best_ tarts in all of Underland."

She smiled at him, tilting her head slightly. "Do you miss her?"

"It doesn't matter." The smile faded from her face – he had closed up again. She shivered, and not just because of the cold.

Stayne eyed her as she shivered, gooseflesh rising on the bare flesh of her forearms, which was all he could see. "Are you cold?"

"A-a bit." She stammered, a bit surprised that he was still going to talk – he usually retreated into silence, after moments like this.

He gave a minute sigh and beckoned towards her. "Come here then."

His gruff words were disheartening to her and she eyed his extended arm critically. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, hurry up." He near-snapped. Grinning, she shifted closer to him, snuggling into him, resting her side against his as they sat on the windowsill. Within a few minutes, Stayne could feel her head loll to the side to that it rested on his shoulder – she was fast asleep.

Sighing world-wearily at his duties, he picked her up almost effortlessly, carrying her to her room, which was, thankfully, not far off.

It was his duty, after all.

**[ I ]**

"My Queen." Alice blurted out, slightly surprised at Mirana's presence at breakfast.

"Good morning, Alice. Would you care to meet me outside after your breakfast?" As nicely as it was put, Alice knew an order when she heard one. She nodded meekly towards Mirana.

_What on earth could she want?_ Alice thought nervously. The rather large ball of anxiety that had dropped into her stomach prevented her from eating anymore, though she did take a few more nibbles, for courtesy's sake.

Alice was outside sooner than she would've liked to have been and the ball of anxiousness was _not_ getting any smaller. It eased only a small bit as she saw Mirana, sitting on a pure crystal white garden table, sipping on some tea, face serene and peaceful.

"Your Highness." Alice greeted, curtsying slightly.

"Alice!" Mirana smiled. "Take a seat. Would you like some tea?"

"Thank you." Mirana's eyes never once wavered from her face as she poured the tea into a teacup, handing it to her.

"It has been a _long_ time since you were last in Underland, Alice." Mirana started, thoughtfully. "Are you here to stay?"

"I should very much like to, if it's not a bother." Alice replied, quietly.

"Oh, of course not!" Mirana laughed. Her face turned serious again quite soon, however. "But, as I said before it has been a long time. Lots of things have _changed_ around here. You may or may not think it's for the better, but these changes were _necessary_. Still are very necessary, in fact. You will have to find some way of earning your keep. I have a few ideas, but the choice is up to you, ultimately."

"Of course." Alice had never doubted that, even for an instance. "It shouldn't be too hard for me to adapt, considering I wasn't really involved in day-to-day Underland life the last few times I visited."

At least Mirana had the decency to flush slightly. She beamed a second later though and continued. "There is one event you have to know about, because it is a very sensitive and important part of our history. It happened around eight years ago, actually."

"What happened?"

"There was a..._rebellion_ of sorts. An attempt at a coup on myself. Iracebeth and Stayne had gained followers and helpers and, on the second Frabjous Day since the Great Slaying, they attacked Marmoreal, ready to de-throne and decapitate Tarrant, Mallymkun, McTwisp, myself and all others who openly opposed Iracebeth in her Rule."

"My Lord!" Alice gasped, horrified. "Was anyone...?"

"Thankfully, no." Mirana smiled. "We had a secret weapon, you see."

"And that would be...?"

"Me." Another woman spoke. Alice turned to see the young woman she had talked to last evening walk in. She was incredibly tall, around six foot eleven give or take, and _that_ was what Alice noticed first. The second thing Alice noticed were the faint outlines of muscle along her arms, which were bare, signifying a warrior or at least a soldier. The woman had incredibly straight, long light blonde hair and dark eyes. Alice couldn't really tell the colour of them from the distance.

"Hello. I'm Alice Kingsley." She introduced, remembering her manners, standing up to shake the other woman's hand.

"I am the Green Princess Lucika of Marmoreal." She replied, smiling demurely. "And this is my guard, Ilosovic Stayne."

Ice ran through Alice's veins, her heart pounding with fear, as Stayne walked in as well, face indifferent. Alice glanced at Mirana who was looking at the Princess with approval.

"Hello, Lady Um. Or is it Lady Alice?" Stayne spoke, a smirk on his face. Then, to Alice's surprise, he bowed to her, courteous as can be.

"H-hello, Stayne. I thought you were in exile?" His face darkened slightly and Alice's body and mind screamed as one-

_RUN, RUN, RUN!_

-but she ignored it and listened to his dead reply.

"Iracebeth passed away a few years back and since then, I have been in the Queen's employment."

"The Red Queen is dead?" She asked, surprised.

"Heart attack." He answered, smiling slightly. "About eight years ago, after the coup. She couldn't handle the strain; Iracebeth had high blood pressure, you see."

"Oh." Was Alice's articulate reply.

"Yes, and sometime after that...two years, I think, the Major came to Marmoreal, seeking a pardon. Mother put me into his care, and we've been together since." The Princess continued.

"_Mother?_" Alice exclaimed, glancing at Mirana.

"Yes, I created her, you see. Children are...difficult to get, here in Underland. So I used all the knowledge I had to create a daughter of my own. I added sugar and spice for personality, a sliver of captured moonlight for her hair, rose petals for a female gender, topaz and emeralds for her eyes, cream for her skin, gold for her heart, a knife, a spoonful of wishful thinking, a dash of empathy and the light of a star for her mind, a bit of my own shadow for mischievousness and secrecy, a strand of Iracebeth's hair to inherit whatever goodness she could from her and a branch of yew, for height."

"But Mother made a mistake, you see. She put in a six-inch branch instead of a five-inch branch and so..." The Princess gestured at herself with a smile.

(_"I like...largeness."_)

Alice glanced at Stayne, whose eyes glinted with interest despite his outwards appearance, and felt a prickle of apprehension. "That's incredible. But why did you want a daughter so badly? Why not a son? Why children?"

"Well, because I needed someone to carry on the crown! Only a female can wear it, you know." Mirana said, rather matter-of-factly.

"Of course." Alice felt rather foolish. And rather ill, too. "Thank you for informing me. I'm sorry, but I have to go."

And she rushed out, ignoring the quizzical looks from the other three at her sudden departure.

**[ I ]**

Lucika grew cold as _the_ Alice rushed out, seemingly in fear. Hesitantly, she turned her gaze to her mother. Unsurprisingly, Mirana's eyes were darkened further in disappointment. Wordlessly, the Queen left, leaving Lucika to brew.

"I can't believe I failed her..." Lucika choked out, placing her hands in her palms. _Failure, failure, failure, failure!_

Stayne was silent.

" We hadn't even managed to...and I think I scared her away! I'm too large and too sane." She whispered, grinding her palms into her eyes, trying to stop the onslaught of tears. "Why am I so _usele_-"

"_Do not finish that sentence!_" Stayne hissed, malevolently. "You are _not_ useless and if Mirana knew Alice as well as she claims, she should've seen it coming."

"I'm a _failure, failure, failure!_" She moaned, voice laced with despair. Stayne couldn't admit to know what her relationship with Mirana was like and so he couldn't really understand the need for despair, an emotion which always got him annoyed.

He grabbed her hands roughly away from her face, forcing Lucika to meet his eyes. "You are not a failure."

Murmuring softly, he pushed stray strands of hair out of her face. "I've known you for _six years_ and, I have to say if anyone is the failure, it is Mirana herself."

Lucika launched herself at him, holding on to him tightly as sobs wracked her body and Stayne held her, rubbing soft circles into her skin, whispering nonsensical things to her.

It was his duty, after all.

* * *

**End Part Two**


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